Events & Activities

NEWS UPDATE: With the winds of change comes sad endings but also great new beginnings...

From January 2015, there will be new opportunities taking place at 'Wizard', with a greater focus on sustainability, enterprise, community, training and personal development. We may be making a few major changes to the way we work but we will be retaining our ethos of providing a safe, supportive environment and reflecting the needs of our local community.

Although this means that 'Wizard Education' will be no more, this website will remain in place for a while longer to simply show the previous part of our journey and how we initially worked with young people aged primarily between 14 and 16yrs old. From this point forward however, our work will focus on the 16-19yrs and 18+ (Adult) groups providing training and personal development opportunities alongside work experience, IT and job seeking skills support. All this through a series of classes, workshops, small in-house enterprises, sheltered work experience opportunities and community activities.

As we will continue to remain a 'Not for Profit' social enterprise we will also be looking to continue to work with other local organisations, companies and individuals. If you would like to know more or are interested in voluntary opportunities providing support or mentoring, please do get in touch!

For more information on what is now happening at 'Wizard'... please check out our new website at www.wizardswindon.co.uk

KILLER TORTOISE RELEASED!!

After a full term of blood (ok, it was fake and came out of a packet!), sweat and tears (laughter!), we have finally completed our very first film!!! Almost all of the children and young adults attending Wizard, either as students or volunteers, have thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic experience brought to us by Keith Phillips of Ideal Films and his team of brilliant (and very patient) film professionals, Sherylee Houssaine, Phil Ball and Katherine Jennings, that shared skills and mentored all the participants as they worked on this project. Special thank-you's too to Mike Wakefield of Windhorse Imports for use of his 'skulls, bones and severed head' props, Denise Dine of Simply Medieval for mentoring and use of 'George' the tortoise and of course James Eddings of Inner Sound Creative Development for his support, excellent work and music workshops to help the students develop accompanying music and those wonderful sound effects.

Although it was hard work, it has indeed been a thoroughly enjoyable and extremely entertaining term!

Check out this direct link to KILLER TORTOISE.... oh, and do
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! :)

Wizard Education Ltd is a Social Enterprise which operates as a 'Not for Profit' organisation that provides a safe, supportive and nurturing learning environment for vulnerable or disadvantaged young people alongside opportunities to gain work related experience and training.

Since 2005 we have provided a series of Engagement Courses and Community Projects, primarily working with Swindon Borough Council, Children Services, local schools, YOT, Social Services, other professional agencies, the Home Tuition Service and EOTAS (Education other than at school).

From September 2014 our focus is changing to embrace the implications of the Raising of the Participation Age which requires children to remain in training or education longer. We are also very aware of the government aim to improve the levels of English, Maths and IT skills in the workforce and for older people who may have missed out on learning or building essential skills using computers and the Internet.

We have strong and active links with the local community and encourage interaction with local businesses or craftsmen arranging short 'work taster' and work experience opportunities. We are also lucky enough to be well supported by local volunteers willing to share skills and expertise or provide essential mentoring.

With an emphasis on providing a safe and socially supportive setting which will allows the individual to access education and specialist support services, we aim to encourage students to raise and develop their aspirations and prepare for work or further education as appropriate. Through personalised programmes, individual learning plans, mentoring and 1:1 support, combined with a series of practical activities, we will provide a positive learning environment that our students would not otherwise have been able to access through the mainstream system. We also offer opportunities for students to experience group working to develop essential team working and social skills whilst embedding essential Functional Skills in Maths, English and IT within a series of practical projects and small enterprises to help develop students' understanding and make learning more relevant and enjoyable.

Our training is primarily practical and encourages the practical application of essential life skills, a greater awareness of Health and Safety in the work environment whilst focussing on developing team building, interpersonal relationships and communication skills. Students are encouraged to take ownership of the projects they work on, are involved in problem solving and decision making both individually and as a group.

Students attending our Engagement and Foundation Courses can either move into mainstream post 16 provisions or progress onto our Traineeship and Apprenticeship programmes which are run with Green Labyrinth.

Each of the programmes we provide aim to enhance the student's personal wellbeing and help them realise their full potential. Programmes are therefore a combination of practical, hands-on or participative activities or projects with a strong focus on building work related skills but delivered in our unique, highly supportive environment.